Tim McGraw
by WithoutLove.LifeIsLike
Summary: Troy and Gabriella meet one summer. At the end of the summer, Troy has to go back to his home in New Mexico. Whenever either one of them hears that song, they'll think of each other. One Shot. Song Fic. Based on Tim McGraw by Taylor Swift. Loosly rated T.


**A/N:** This story has three different time periods that it takes place in. They are seperated by _lyrics_ and differentiated by font style.

Ex) First Date  
**Ex) Last Night Together  
_Ex) Later in the Future_**

The song is Tim McGraw by Taylor Swift.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

_You said the way my blue eyes shined put those Georgia stars to shame that night.  
I said, "That's a lie."_

*****

"Oh, I'm sorry," the blonde haired, blue eyed boy said, a smile forming on his face as his eyes reached hers. Fate could not have picked a more beautiful girl for him to bump into.

"Wow," she exhaled, almost accidentally.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry. It's just… your eyes. Wow."

"My eyes?" He chuckled.

"Yea," she giggled shyly. "They're so blue. The stars themselves should be jealous."

"Oh. Well thanks…" he smiled awkwardly. "I'm Troy."

"Gabriella."

*****

_Just a boy in a Chevy truck that had a tendency of getting stuck on back roads at night._

*****

"Hmm. Would you look at that?" Troy smiled, looking over at Gabriella. He couldn't believe how lucky he was that this gorgeous girl would agree to see him tonight. "It seems my car has stopped."

"Well, considering you put it in park and took the keys out, I can't say I'm too surprised," she smiled back at him. He chuckled and winked at her.

"Come on," he said, stepping out of his old beat up truck.

"And where are we going?" She asked, following his lead.

"For a walk. Come on," he repeated, taking her hand in his own.

*****

_And I was right there beside him all summer long.  
And then the time we woke up to find that summer'd gone._

*****

**"I can't believe the summer is over," Gabriella sighed, leaning into Troy.**

**"I know. It feels like yesterday that you bumped into me," he grinned cockily.**

**"Oh please. You so bumped in to me!" She giggled, looking up at him. He smiled and took the opportunity to lean down and kiss her softly on the lips.**

**"Mmm… I'm gonna miss this," she admitted, leaning into the kiss. "I'm gonna miss you."**

**"We still have tonight," he said, kissing her again.**

*****

_But when you think Tim McGraw I hope you think my favorite song.  
The one we danced to all night long, the moon like a spotlight on the lake._

*****

"This is beautiful," Gabriella gasped at the lake in front of her. "How did you find this? I've lived here my whole life and I've never seen it."

"Four summers in one place and you're the first pretty girl I've met. I've had a lot of time on my hands," he smiled, leading her to a clearing beside the lake. Even he had to admit this was pretty great for a first date. She blushed at his words.

"You've been coming here since you were thirteen?"

"Yup. I don't really know why… it's not like there's anything here. I guess it's just too hot where I live."

"Well I'm glad you're here," she smiled shyly.

"Me too," he smiled back. He then proceeded to pull out his iPod and hand her the left headphone. "Gabriella, would you dance with me?"

"I'd love to," she giggled, allowing him to pull her close. The two danced slowly in a comfortable silence for the first song. In the silence before the second song played, Troy took a chance.

"Gabriella?"

"Hmm?"

"May I kiss you?" She looked up at him.

"Yes." And he did. They slowly pulled apart as "Can't Tell Me Nothing" by Tim McGraw started to play. "I love this song," she giggled, looking up into his eyes.

"No kidding? It's my favorite song."

*****

_When you think happiness I hope you think that little black dress.  
Think of my head on your chest and my old faded blue jeans._

*****

**"We do still have tonight," she agreed.**

**"As far as I'm concerned, tomorrow morning is a lifetime away."**

**"What time do you leave?"**

**"We leave Georgia first thing tomorrow morning," he said, looking in her eyes and taking her hands in his own. "But here?" He said, bringing her hand up to her heart. "Here… I'll never leave."**

**"Troy?"**

**"Yes?"**

**"Do you think we could… go get stuck in your truck again?"**

**"I think we can do that."**

*****

_When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think of me._

_*****  
_

**_As the song played on the radio that fall, Troy closed his eyes and remembered the beautiful girl he had kissed under the moonlight. He wondered if somewhere, she was thinking of him too._**

*****

_September saw a month of tears and thanking God that you weren't here to see me like that._

_*****  
_

_**As the song played on the radio that fall, Gabriella let a tear escape from her eyes. Every time she heard this song, it took her back to their first date, when Troy took her dancing by the lake.**_

*****

_But in a box beneath my bed is a letter that you never read from three summers back._

_*****  
_

_**Troy stared at the box in front of him. When his best friend Chad at discovered it under his dorm room bed, he had laughed and called him a girl. Troy knew better. He knew how important it was. He searched through pictures and flowers and movie tickets before stumbling upon something he forgot he had. A letter that he planned to give her after their last night together. A letter he never gave her.**_

*****

_It's hard not to find it all a little bittersweet.  
And looking back on all of that it's nice to believe…_

_*****  
_

_"**Gabriella?"**_

_"**Hmm? Oh…sorry I was just thinking."**_

_"**Honey, it's been three years and you still get that glaze over your eyes every time this song plays."**_

_"**It's just nostalgia, Mom."**_

*****

_When you think Tim McGraw I hope you think my favorite song.  
The one we danced to all night long, the moon like a spotlight on the lake.  
When you think happiness I hope you think that little black dress._

_*****  
_

"I never would have thought you for a country boy," Gabriella admitted as the Tim McGraw song played on loop for a third time.

"I'm from New Mexico. That's pretty country right?"

"Well. It is next to Texas."

"Exactly. We can't all live in Georgia."

"I suppose not," she giggled as he spun her.

"That's a pretty dress you're wearing."

"Thank you," she smiled.

*****

_Think of my head on your chest and my old faded blue jeans._

_*****  
_

**"Troy?" Gabriella mumbled into his lips. Troy had driven his truck out to the lake where they had their first date. The two of them were laying in the bed of the truck. She was on her back and he was hovered over her.**

**"Hmm?"**

**"I know you're leaving tomorrow… but… do you have… a… you know?" She asked, looking him in the eyes.**

**"Umm… yes. But…"**

**"I want to."**

**"I'm still gonna have to leave tomorrow."**

**"I know."**

**"Are you sure?" He asked, realizing how cliché he sounded.**

**"I'm sure," she whispered, beginning to unbutton her old blue jeans.**

*****

_When you think Tim McGraw I hope you think of me._

_*****  
_

"My mom bought it for me this afternoon. She said I should look nice for my date," Gabriella giggled shyly.

"Well you do," he smiled back.

"Thank you," she said again.

*****

_And I'm back for the first time since then.  
I'm standing on your street.  
And there's a letter left on your doorstep, and the first thing that you'll read…_

_*****  
_

_**It had been three years since he had been back. After that last summer, he went off to college and his parents saw no reason to return to what had become their summer home. He approached the door and stood for a moment contemplating what to say. He hadn't spoken to her in three years. Three long years. Ringing the doorbell, he decided he would just say whatever came to him. He waited for a moment before a neighbor called out to him.**_

_"**They're not home, boy," a sweet old man next door explained.**_

_"**Oh… umm… do you know when they'll be home?"**_

_"**Should be any time now. They just went to pick up that pretty little girl from the airport. Home for the summer, she is."**_

_"**Oh. Alright. Thank you," Troy sighed. He put the letter on the door and drove away.**_

*****

_When you think Tim McGraw I hope you think my favorite song.  
Some day you'll turn your radio on, I hope it takes you back to that place._

_*****  
_

_**Gabriella smiled and took a breath in of fresh Georgia air as she made her way to the house she grew up in. She approached the door and her eyes caught a glimpse of her name on an envelope. She picked it up and looked at it curiously.**_

_"**A nice young man came around looking for you a little while ago," he sweet next-door neighbor explained.**_

_"**Oh? Did he mention a name?"**_

_"**Nope. Had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen though," he said matter-of-factly.**_

_"**Oh. Thank you," Gabriella said, eyes widening. She said down on her front step and read the letter, tears forming in her eyes.**_

*****

_When you think happiness…_

_*****  
_

**"You should know… I've never done this before," she admitted. He looked into her eyes worriedly. "I still want to. I just… thought you should know. Have you done it?"**

**"Once," he told her. "But I wasn't as nervous as I am now," he chuckled shyly.**

*****

_I hope you think that little black dress…_

_*****  
_

He leaned down to kiss her again. As he pulled away, she leaned her head on his chest and breathed in his scent.

"You smell like boy," she grinned.

"Well that's good," he laughed softly. "I think I miss you already."

"What do you mean?"

"As soon as the summer is over I'm off to college."

"Where at?"

"University of Albuquerque. Basketball scholarship. Where are you going?"

"I still have a year of high school left," she admitted. "But I want to go to Stanford."

"Really? You seem more down to earth than that," he joked. "I pictured you at somewhere more… I don't know… artsy. Like NYU."

"I'd love to go there. Mom's got her dreams set on Stanford, though."

"What about your dreams?"

*****

_Think of my head on your chest and my old faded blue jeans._

_*****  
_

**"I hope that was okay," he said softly to her, kissing her forehead, her nose, her lips, her cheek.**

**"It was more than okay," she reassured him. "It was wonderful." He smiled and kissed her once more before pulling her into him. She laid her head on his chest and he put his arm around her.**

*****

_When you think Tim McGraw I hope you think of me. Oh, think of me, mmm._

_*****  
_

"My dreams… are to be happy," she giggled, lightening up the moment. "You know I wasn't lying before. Your eyes put those stars to shame," she said looking up.

"That's a lie," he smiled. She smiled back and shook her head.

*****

_You said the way my blue eyes shined put those Georgia stars to shame that night.  
I said, "That's a lie."_

_*****  
_

_**If they could have slowed down that summer, they would have. It seemed that the eight weeks they had were not long enough for what they wanted to become. But even though they weren't together… even though he was playing basketball at the U of A while she studied Art History at NYU… they always had Tim McGraw.**_


End file.
